May 16-18, 2024
iMPACt Center for Art & Dance
1625 Bush St, San Francisco, CA
Thursday, May 16th at 7:30pm
Friday, May 17th at 7:30pm*
Saturday, May 18th at 3:00pm** & 7:30pm***
Image description: Four smiling people, wearing various shades of blue, dance and lean against a blue wall. The wall contains alternating shades of blue that fill the left two-thirds of the image with stripes.
Study Hall, a new, full-length work choreographed and directed by Emily Hansel, is inspired by a series of community workshops designed to bring Bay Area dancers and choreographers/directors together in discussion about cultivating healthy, equitable workplaces in our contemporary dance field. Study Hall’s four cast members participated in these conversations alongside members of the public and brought their takeaways into the studio for the development of Study Hall. All four of these dancers, Rebecca Fitton, gizeh muñiz vengel, Jocelyn Reyes, and Erin Yen, are self-producing choreographers in their own right and share an interest in forging new models for safety, equity, and sustainability in our field. Theirs and Emily’s shared experiences and common interests allowed for the development of a unique workplace culture grounded in accountability and experimentation.
In its final form, Study Hall can accurately be described as both carefully crafted and highly unplanned. Treading the line between set choreography and improvisational score, Study Hall exemplifies both the world building and dismantling that the artists crave. Study Hall illustrates the relationships formed during the highly collaborative creative process—one that was full of conversation, movement, writing, drawing, laughing, sighing, and bonding over mutual experiences of leadership roles, administrative work, performance practice, and activism. The generous and committed dancing by this powerhouse quartet is complemented by original music from Sophia Cotraccia and lighting design by Thomas Bowersox.
Study Hall is supported in part by the San Francisco Arts Commission and by Steppin’ Out Dance Studio.
Tickets are available at a variety of price points and no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Ticket buyers are encouraged to consider their economic status when deciding which tickets to purchase. If price is a barrier for you, please email emily@emilyhansel.me to receive a complimentary ticket.
*The Friday 7:30 performance will have ASL interpretation, no advanced registration required.
**The Saturday 3:00 performance will include a free, pre-show event for kids ages 7-12 starting at 2:00. Learn more and RSVP.
***The Saturday 7:30 performance will include live audio description and a pre-show haptic access tour at 6:45. Pre-registration is required, more details below.
Accessibility
The performance is about an hour long and does not have an intermission.
Building details
The iMPACt Center for Art & Dance is in an ADA accessible building and includes ADA accessible all-gender bathrooms. Getting to the studio from the building entrance involves riding an elevator or climbing one flight of stairs and then crossing a carpeted lobby and hallway.
Masking
All audience members are strongly encouraged to wear KN95 masks while attending this event. Masks will be provided for all attendees.
ASL interpretation 
The Friday 7:30 performance will have ASL interpretation provided by Pilar Marsh. No advanced registration is required, but if you'd like to reserve a seat with an optimal vantage point of the interpreter, you may do so by contacting Emily at emily@emilyhansel.me.
Audio description 
For blind and visually impaired audience members, we're partnering with Gravity Access Services to offer live audio description for the 7:30pm performance on Saturday, May 18th as well as a pre-show haptic access tour at 6:45pm.
Audio description is a live audio track spoken by a professional audio describer to audience members with visual impairments through a wireless headset system. It provides clear and engaging descriptions of the meaningful visual details of a performance. A haptic access tour is a live pre-show tour that allows patrons to experience—through touch and their own movement— the space, performers, costumes and objects in addition to key movement elements in the performance.
For more information, to book a spot in a haptic access tour, or to reserve a headset, please call: 415-404-9596.
Watch or listen to Study Hall online
A film of the Study Hall live performance, as well as an audio description of the film, will be available on-demand in August 2024. Learn more.
Contact us
Patrons are invited to correspond with Emily via email (emily@emilyhansel.me) or phone (415-404-9596) about specific accessibility questions or needs.
More about Study Hall
Check out the project budget for Study Hall to learn how this work is funded and how the artists involved are being compensated.
Learn about our fundraising goal and consider making a donation.
Learn about the artists behind Study Hall.
Each Study Hall artist is taking a turn at writing about the creative process. Check out our Substack to read the thoughtful pieces they’ve written.
Read more about the Community Study Halls public conversation series that instigated this project.
